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Feb. 15th. Found, to my surprise, that Laura could bound all the towns I had taught her, without the map, -- Roxbury, Brookline, Brighton, Watertown, and West Cambridge. I taught her, to-day, about Cambridge, Charlestown, Medford, and Malden. She was in excellent spirits, and takes more interest in this than in any other study. At twelve, took Laura to the stable, to show her oats and a half-peck measure; then to the store-room, to teach her Wine Measure; found a gallon measure and also a hogshead, tierce, and barrel. She readily learned their names, and how many gallons they would hold, and then, as usual, she wanted to go round to examine other things; let her see the coffee in a bag; sugar, salt, &c. in barrels; ginger, pepper, &c. in boxes of twenty- five and fifty lbs.; then starch in papers, and lastly she examined the tea-chest, box, lead, &c. I intended to have taken a part of this lesson on another day, but she was so much interested that I could not avoid her questions: deferred the review until another day.

Here follow some other extracts, taken from different parts of the Journal:

Wednesday. Laura practised some time in Arithmetic, but did not succeed quite as well as yesterday. She was much interested in an Algebra type, and was very anxious to be able to use it; told her I would teach her, when she was sixteen, all about it; "and can you kiss me then?" She said, "can you kiss sixteen young ladies?" meaning young ladies of sixteen. She talked about it some time, and expressed much fear that she should have to give up kissing and being kissed when she was older.

Thursday. Commenced by telling her where Boston and Charles River were, and then attempted to give her the idea, that the map was small, and we could not have room to put on it all that was on the other map; and then of the number of miles from Boston to the mouth of the Hudson River, moving her finger from one to the other. When I had told her the distance, she said, "I think Miss W. lives there," -- and she was delighted that she had got so far from home.

At eleven, gave her for a writing lesson, the story I read to her Friday noon. She said, at first, she could not remember it, because it was long ago that I read it; but she did very well. After writing it she said, "is this truth?" told her I thought it was not. "Is it lie?" tried to make her understand that it was not wrong to write it, but I doubt if I succeeded entirely. When writing she spelled the word bureau wrong, and when I asked her, why? she said, "I was very unremembered;" she knows the word forgetful, but wished to try to make one, and after she had done so she turned to me for approbation.

It has been remarked that it was very difficult in the beginning to make her understand figures of speech, fables, or supposititious cases of any kind, and this difficulty is not yet entirely overcome. If any sum in arithmetic is given to her, the first impression is that what is supposed, did actually happen. For instance, a few mornings ago, when her teacher took an arithmetic to read a sum, she asked, "How did the man who wrote that book know I was here?" The sum given her was this: If you can buy a barrel of cider for four dollars, how much can you buy for one dollar? upon which her first comment was, "I cannot give much for cider, because it is very sour."

She formerly talked as little children do, without using pronouns, but now she uses them freely, and her appreciation of them is proved by the fact that in talking with little Oliver, who is still in the very rudiments of language, she uses the third person, and says, for instance, "Laura is rich," when to another she would say, "I am rich."

She has a keen relish for knowledge, which, mingled with a little self-esteem, would perhaps impel her to greater effort than would be consistent with health, if care were not taken to prevent it. One day she had been left in my library while we were gone to church; in the evening she appeared fatigued and complained of being unwell; she was asked where she had pain, an she said, "in my head; I slept one hour to-day, and then studied very much in books, and thought very hard." Upon inquiry, it was found that she had got hold of a Latin book, printed in raised letters, and had been puzzling over it, and worrying about it.

She asked the meaning of many words which she remembered, as sed, non, est, &c. It was explained to her that it was in the Latin language, upon which she asked if' "the Dr. knew Latin;" if "Sophia knew Latin;" and learning that some others were as ignorant of it as herself, she was comforted. She understands that different nations use different languages, and was very much pleased at learning a few words of French.

Words are to her always signs of something definite, and are taken in their literal sense; for instance, she supposed for some time after hearing about the generic word smiths, that blacksmiths were all black men, and silversmiths white men. Like other blind persons, she forms an idea, (vague, of course,) about colors; she thinks that black is a dirty color, and that the ground is black; another says that black is rough, while white is smooth, &c.